hello can anyone help me out I was wondering what is the best compost to put in bags to grow potatoes and what is the best potato I have just lifted Christmas potatoes and there isn't many in the bags and what is there is small I can't seem to grow any decent sized ones

16 Dec, 2012

Answers

Join the club, Robert. I don't know anyone who has claimed 'success' with Christmas potatoes. We tried, just the once, this year and have the same result as you describe. Maybe further south in, say, the Channel Islands or even the Canary Islands?????
I prefer growing potatoes in the ground rather than in bags but, if I were to try with bags again in spring, I would use either a good peat-free multipurpose compost or a 50/50 mix of garden compost and garden soil.

I have grown early potatoes in bags for the last few years and have found that feed and watering has been critical rather than type of compost. I have grown Foremost and they have been good. I would still say that for the best results you cannot beat earlies which are grown in the ground. As far as growing earlies which have been conditioned to be grown later in the season for Christmas, I have found to be a waste of time. Not only does the cold and rain give them a hammering but they are more susceptable to potato blight and slug damage. Best to visit the supemarket or use the old fashioned method of storing freshly-dug potatoes in a large tin and burrying them in the ground.